Cory Weedshttps://coryweeds.com
Jazz ImpresarioTue, 06 Feb 2018 21:49:56 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.9DAY 2https://coryweeds.com/news/general/day-2-4/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/day-2-4/#respondThu, 11 Jan 2018 14:04:46 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8855A long but great day in the city today. Had a 12:30 appointment with Bill Singer, one of THE best horn repairman on the planet. I didn’t have anything specifically wrong with my horn but wanted him to take take a look at it and make some adjustments which he did and it plays fantastic! […]

A long but great day in the city today. Had a 12:30 appointment with Bill Singer, one of THE best horn repairman on the planet. I didn’t have anything specifically wrong with my horn but wanted him to take take a look at it and make some adjustments which he did and it plays fantastic! He’s a great guy to. For those technical people out there he opened up the key heights for me with opens up the horn a little bit. He did a great job and I really love how the horn is playing now. He’s an interesting guy to watch work as well.

Tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart came down and met me and we had a nice lunch at a great Thai restaurant. After that I headed to The Jazz Record Center down on 26th Street and miraculously I got out of the store without spending any money but it was great to look around. It’s such and incredible store. I then headed way up town to my gig at Bierstrasse on 133rd and 12th Avenue. Very very cool place. The gig was great. Jason Tiemann on drums and Ben Paterson on organ. The only drag is there were ZERO people there. I think its my first ever 0 people gig! What was even funnier is we got paid in $1 bills! It looks like a big stack of money and it was a big stack of money but it amounted to much less than it looked! Anyways, its was a really fun gig. Its a great sounding and looking room. Zev Feldman came up and met me and we walked a few blocks up to Showmans Lounge and heard Jerry Weldon for a few tunes before heading downtown to hear Jamale Davis’ Group at Smalls with a great saxophonist Stephen Riley from North Carolina. After their set we snuck up to Little Branch and caught a few tunes by Grant Stewart’s Quartet followed by some late night eats and then bed! Damn, what a day!

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/day-2-4/feed/0New York Day 1https://coryweeds.com/news/general/new-york-day-1/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/new-york-day-1/#respondWed, 10 Jan 2018 16:06:13 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8853Wow, long time no blog. I friend said “I wish you still blogged.,” and it got me thinking that he’s right. It’s been a long time and I’ve always said if I had just one person reading then it was worth doing 🙂 So this is for you buddy! The feeling of excitement that takes […]

Wow, long time no blog. I friend said “I wish you still blogged.,” and it got me thinking that he’s right. It’s been a long time and I’ve always said if I had just one person reading then it was worth doing So this is for you buddy!

The feeling of excitement that takes over my body when starting the descent in JFK never ever gets old, even if it is 6:00 am in the morning and I got no sleep on the flight! Coming to NYC provides me with so much excitement. I arrived at my AirBnb on the Upper East Side at around 8:00 in hopes of a hot shower and a few hours rest. Well, the building Im staying in was being worked so there was no hot water and when I tried to go to sleep the drilling, hammering, sawing and yelling made it hard but I stuck it out and managed to get some sleep.

Headed down to the Village to meet my good friend Sam Taylor for some delicious vegetarian food at Souen, followed by a coffee and then it was off to Smalls. The gig was a lot of fun. Great band made up of some old friends and a new one! Fellow Canadian Phil Stewart on drums, Mike Karn on bass, Rick Germanson on piano and my dear friend Ian Hendrickson-Smith on alto saxophone. It’s always fun playing at Smalls and looking around to see who might show up and as usual there were a bunch of friends, musicians etc. coming by to say hi. It was very cool. After Smalls we headed over to Mezzow for more hang time with Ian, Jenny and Rick Germanson, Sam Taylor. Got to see my two favourite Smalls/Mezz staff, Hannah and Vicki (fellow Canadian, GO CANADA). I then snuck over to the Fatcat to hear Sam Dillon and his quartet who I’m recording on Saturday before coming home. Got to hang with the Coastal Jazz Team (Rainbow, Cole and Jeremy). They got me all fired up talking about the old Cellar and jazz club war stories. It was fun. I headed back to Smalls to have a quick meeting with Nick Hampton about some things and then it was home. I think I waltzed in at 3:30. Got some rest and am ready for day 2!

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/new-york-day-1/feed/03 YEARS! HARD TO BELIEVEhttps://coryweeds.com/news/general/3-years-hard-believe/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/3-years-hard-believe/#respondSun, 26 Feb 2017 04:29:48 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8718It kind of crept up on me but tomorrow marks 3 years since the Cellar closed. SO much has happened in the last three years and in some ways it seems like it’s been 10 years and in other ways I can put myself right back there and it seems like yesterday. The question I […]

It kind of crept up on me but tomorrow marks 3 years since the Cellar closed. SO much has happened in the last three years and in some ways it seems like it’s been 10 years and in other ways I can put myself right back there and it seems like yesterday.

The question I get the most is “do you miss it?” This question is always answered very quickly with a “not even a little bit.” I suppose that statement isn’t entirely true. I have to say that I’m now in a much better place. Frankie’s has been absolutely wonderful and it has allowed me to do everything I want to do without all of the stress. I work with an incredible team at Coastal Jazz & Blues and I get to spend way more quality time with my family. I wouldn’t trade any of these things. Having said that though, nothing will ever replicate what The Cellar was and I sometimes find myself missing the incredible intimacy that The Cellar provided. I do think of that and what an incredible room that was to listen to music.

I was a reminiscing a lot today and while doing so I put on a couple of records. The first one: UGETSU Live @ The Cellar (Brad Turner – trumpet, Rod Murray – trombone, Jon Bentley – tenor sax, Ross Taggart – piano, André Lachance – bass and Bernie Arai – drums) that was recorded live over two nights at the club. Such a wonderful record. I remember being there that weekend and what an awesome crowd it was. The place was jammed and the band was really sounding good. I remember thinking to myself that it couldn’t get any better on any level. Everyone was so excited and having a great time from the staff to the audience to the musicians. It was one of those many magical nights.

I also put on The Jodi Proznick Quartet – Foundations (Tilden Webb – piano, Jodi Proznick – bass, Steve Kaldestad – tenor sax and Jesse Cahill – drums) which still stands out as one of the top 3 best records on the label. Although it wasn’t recorded live it represents all of the great stuff that was happening at the club and because of the club. This one was extra cool because Shawn Pierce was the engineer and this is some of his best work without question. Sonically it is unmatched. Also kind of cool because Steve Mynett did the design for this project. It was his first design project and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. This is one of those records where everything came together so perfectly.

The two aforementioned records represent something special that was going on at The Cellar. It’s really cool.

Another of the many great things that happened at the club were the many people that documented the events by way of photography. Brian Nation, Ian Moar, Bob Syme in the early days and then later on Steve Mynett, Jesse Cahill and Vincent Lim. They all captured so many of the incredible moments. I have shared a few below:

(Above) Here is Steve Mynett and I on the last night three years ago. Beside that is Ross Taggart and I with Bill Coon, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash. This gig was bitter sweet. The first night something was wrong with Ross, he wasn’t himself and although he played okay, something was clearly wrong. The second night was awesome, I mean really awesome and we thought nothing of the first night. Of course, we then found out he wasn’t well and that time period was when it was all starting. I owe so much to Ross for so many things. When I bought the club in 1999 Ross was the first guy I told! Miss you Roscoe!

(Below)

I had the great pleasure of presenting Louis Hayes & The Cannonball Adderley Band for four nights over my 40th birthday. It resulted in a recording that would hit #1 on the Jazz Week Charts. The other special thing about that weekend was my wife organized a little surprise party on the last night of the run. Greatest present ever that Louis Hayes, Dezron Douglas, Rick Germanson, Jeremy Pelt and Vince Herring were at my birthday party!

Also, one of my biggest thrills was having George Coleman out the second time. He has become a dear friend and he came to honor Ross which made it even more special. Big G is amazing!

(Below)

10 year anniversary with One For All the resulted in INVADES VANCOUVER on Cellar Live. 4 days I will never forget and also 4 days that I think took about 5 years at least off my life. Love those guys so much and the music was unbelievable. Beside that picture is well…Jim Rotondi behind the bar. I clearly was not there as I would never let him behind the bar had many great times with Jimbo!

And finally, what can I say about Jenny? Dear Jenny. She is one of a kind and would’ve been a ‘lifer’ if I hadn’t of closed the place. She has gone on to so many wonderful things but she was without question the most wonderful and most dedicated employee I had in 15 years. She really is one of the most fantastic people ever!

Below is the email I sent out in November of 2013;

It is with great sadness that I report as of February 25th, 2014 Cory Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club will cease operations at 3611 West Broadway.

This decision has been the hardest that I have had to make in my life. Several factors contributed to the decision such as our inability to sign what we thought was a fair lease that would ensure our long term viability at this location, the flooding problem that has plagued us for the better part of four years every time it rains and the restaurant industry as a whole. It has been a challenge for me for 13 years but after a particularly difficult past few months it was becoming abundantly clear that as long as we carried on as we were, we would have trouble prospering.

I have spent over a third of my life presenting music in this city and although this current incarnation of the club will be a closed chapter, I am committed to coming back bigger and better some time in the future. After taking some time to breathe, spending time with my family and reflecting on the past 13 years I will start looking at what’s out there for a full time return of Cory Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club. In the meantime I will be promoting a handful of concerts under the Cory Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club banner over the next 4 months. Information on those concerts will be posted at www.cellarjazz.com over the next several weeks.

I hope you can understand how hard it is for me to send an email like this to musicians, in essence cancelling gigs for some of you. After spending weeks agonizing over how to do this the right way, I realized that there is no right way and that in the end I need to do what’s right for myself and my family. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause to you and your touring plans.

You can visit MY BLOGfor the official press release that will be available on Sunday morning.

Cellar Live will operate as normal for this year and into the future with many great releases upcoming and many more to be recorded over the next year. New York With Weeds will continue as planned and promises to be the best one yet (we still have a about 10 spots left). The closure of The Cellar has no effect on those two entities.

It’s also important to know that nothing will change leading up to our closure. We will continue to strive for the highest quality in every aspect of our operation and we have tons of great stuff planned leading up to February 25th.

I can’t thank the local musicians enough for their continuous support over the past 13 years. I’m so proud to be a part of what I think is one of the greatest musical communities on the planet and without your support and talent The Cellar would never have become what it did. I was literally learning on the fly and you stood by me, criticized me when necessary and applauded me when appropriate. I owe you a lot for your patience and understanding. It is so humbling to know the level of trust and faith you put in me. I can’t thank you enough.

There was always a lot of hoopla made about the international stars that came to The Cellar but without a strong local jazz community you cannot have a ‘real’ jazz club. It is YOU who have made The Cellar what it is.

To my New York and international musician friends, thank you for travelling across the country on a regular basis to play my humble club. I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with many of you and in many cases those are highlights of my career that won’t ever be forgotten. You always brought an extra little edge to the bandstand that created an electric vibe at the club and I learned to thrive off that great energy. Many of you made appearances at the club for less money than you would normally charge because you knew or had heard what kind of vibe we created at The Cellar. I can truly say that every box is ticked off on my ‘jazz club bucket list.’

It’s been a wild ride and although I’m filled with sadness and some fear, I am looking forward to this next phase of my life, whatever that phase is and wherever it takes me. One thing I know for sure is that my passion for this music will never ever die and whatever happens I will continue to be a ‘jazz warrior.’

Kindest regards,

Cory Weeds

I sent out the email to my international musician friends first followed by local musicians later in the evening.

The very FIRST email I got in response was from none other than Christian McBride:

I have no doubt that you’ll be back bigger, badder and stronger. Take care of you and your family. THAT is most important.

See you soon,

Christian

I received so may wonderful emails from musicians, and fans from all over the world.

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/3-years-hard-believe/feed/0R.I.P. GEORGE ROBERThttps://coryweeds.com/news/general/r-i-p-george-robert/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/r-i-p-george-robert/#respondSun, 03 Apr 2016 17:41:35 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8552I’am deeply saddened by the loss of alto saxophonist George Robert. To say George was a hero of mine would be a massive understatement. I tried to do everything like him! I somehow came across a CD of his with Clark Terry that I immediately fell in love with. I know the year was 1991 […]

I’am deeply saddened by the loss of alto saxophonist George Robert. To say George was a hero of mine would be a massive understatement. I tried to do everything like him!

I somehow came across a CD of his with Clark Terry that I immediately fell in love with. I know the year was 1991 because I attended a music camp in Kelowna, BC that summer and couldn’t believe it when I got up there and found out that George Robert was playing a gig at the Eldorado Hotel (I think) in Kelowna. I was totally beside myself. I went to the show and it was absolutely amazing. I was taken with every aspect of his playing…his sound, his phrasing his tune choices….I was in heaven. It was so great to actually meet him and realize what a wonderful man he was. Then to find out that he was actually living in Vancouver. I could NOT believe my fortune. I started studying with him immediately and that led into an amazing friendship that turned into our families becoming quite close. Perhaps the only person I met that was nicer than George was his beautiful wife Joan.

Over the years there were so many good times, dinners, gigs, sessions, a trip to Switzerland to see them. Once George and family moved to Switzerland permanently (can’t remember the year) naturally we grew apart a little bit but I would still present him at the Cellar every year at the beginning of January. It was always such a great way to start the year off. Those yearly visits became less frequent as time went on and although there would be a flurry of emails once in a while we were both wrapped up in our careers and our families but he was always close to my heart and his tunes till showed up on my set lists at gigs.

He came to Vancouver in August, 2014 and I presented him at Hycroft and it was amazing. He had beaten his cancer and was full of life, so excited to be given a second chance and ready to conquer the world. We stayed in touch but then things dropped off a bit and I wondered if something was wrong and of course we then found out that yes, something was very wrong.

George, you inspired me, you excited me you made me love this music and everything that it is more than anyone I know. I hope you’re having fun up there all the cats. You will never be forgotten and thank you for all your wonderful contributions.

Here is one of his most amazing tunes and one of his greatest albums and like a ‘desert island’ disc for me!

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/r-i-p-george-robert/feed/0CELLAR LIVEhttps://coryweeds.com/news/general/cellar-live-2/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/cellar-live-2/#respondSun, 31 Jan 2016 12:19:50 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8519Sitting on an airplane on the way to Toronto to produce a brand new Metalwood recording. It’s going to be funny walking into The Rex tonight and seeing those four guys on stage again. The last time that happened was at The Cellar around 12 years ago when they played one night at the club […]

Sitting on an airplane on the way to Toronto to produce a brand new Metalwood recording. It’s going to be funny walking into The Rex tonight and seeing those four guys on stage again. The last time that happened was at The Cellar around 12 years ago when they played one night at the club with guests Mino Cinelu and DJ Logic just before recording The Recline. I’m really excited as hearing them play is going to bring back a ton of memories. All good!

As I sit on the plane, I’m randomly going through the Cellar Live catalogue and listening to the music that we’ve managed to document over 17 years. We’re launching a brand new website. For the better part of 7 years or so we have had a US company deal with our fulfillment. With the decline of the CAD dollar and the rise in shipping cost I thought it was time for a change. It looks much better to that a CAD label is operating every facet of its operation in Canada. So very soon, the website will be live, and you’ll be able to order CDs in CAD dollars and have them shipped from Canada which will be much cheaper. We will also have our full catalogue available in Hi-Resolution (AIFF files) that you can download directly from our site.

It’s been a long arduous process of ripping all the CDs again, uploading etc. but the upside is that I have got to listen to some amazing music and it’s reminded me the crazy things that I did, and continue to do around Cellar Live. It also reminds me of the great community of people apart from the musicians that contributed and continue to contribute to these records. Graphic Designers: Nicole Banda, Christina Peressini, Max Franosch and Ian Hendrickson-Smith, Julie Queneville and Erin (last name escapes me) Engineers: Dave Sikula, Ian Hendrickson-Smith, Chris Gestrin, Miles Hill, Brad Turner, Sheldon Zharko, Shawn Pierce, Andre Carraesquero, Steve Bellamy and likely more that I’m forgetting!

And then there is the music…..so many great memories of nights at the club and days in the studio. Today finds me in a bit of a melancholy mood so listening to those types of tunes…

Falling In Love and Shorter Days from Ross Taggart’s – Thankfully brings back a flood of memories.

In My Life from Bruno Hubert Trio – Live @ The Cellar. Bruno’s trio was so fun to record and I’m happy that we have not one but two documentations of this idiosyncratic and enigmatic personality and musician.

So many great tunes from Jodi Proznick Quartet – Foundations but the two that stick out are the beautiful arrangements of Tilden Webb’s on Joni Mitchell’s Help Me and Peter Gabriel’s Washing Of The Water.

Joel Haynes Trio plus Seamus Blake is an amazing record and features a gorgeous ballad by Jodi Proznick called L’Espace and another cool arrangement by Tilden Webb on an unlikely tune for rearrangement, Oasis’ Champagane Supernova! Without the brilliant work of engineer Steve Bellamy this record would’ve been lost due to my inexperience as an engineer! Phew!

Beatriz from Steve Kaldestad – New York Afternoon is a duo with pianist Renee Rosnes and is one of my favorite tracks in our entire catalogue. Speaking of Kaldestad, Straight Up is an amazing album and wow, what a back story. I wish I could tell you about it but I can’t. Just listen to the record! It’s phenomenal from start to finish. One of the greasiest rhythm sections of all time!

Another all time favorite on the label in terms of tracks is Quincy Davis’ Anthem For Piece recorded on James Danderfer – Run With It

I never really intended my musical input on the label be what it is. It just kinda happened. With This Happy Madness being at #1 for 3 weeks on the Jazz Week charts, it night be surprising that I don’t pick that as my favorite record. I’m proud of all of my releases. They’re all special to me for one reason or the other. Having said that when you can tour a band BEFORE a recording as I did with my quintet with Steve Davis, the results can’t help but be good. In January 2013 we did something insane like 27 gigs in 29 days and we ended up at Smoke Jazz Club in New York with one night and one night only to get a record. I think this is my best effort on record without question and the band is really cooking to!

So much great music and I’ve only cited 8 records here of over 110 that we have released! It’s been a trip down memory lane that I have enjoyed so much and I’m looking forward to the many many more recordings that we’ll be releasing over the next year. In case you’ve read this far and are curious about what’s upcoming, here is what you can expect from the label in the next little while:

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/cellar-live-2/feed/0BOSSA FOR ALLhttps://coryweeds.com/news/general/bossa-for-all-2/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/bossa-for-all-2/#respondSat, 09 Jan 2016 23:12:23 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8511I’ve been doing a bit of reflecting on The Cellar lately. I have always maintained that I don’t miss it and I stand by that. I have such a great situation with Frankie’s and Coastal Jazz its sometimes hard to believe I did it any other way but then I comb the archives and start […]

I’ve been doing a bit of reflecting on The Cellar lately. I have always maintained that I don’t miss it and I stand by that. I have such a great situation with Frankie’s and Coastal Jazz its sometimes hard to believe I did it any other way but then I comb the archives and start remembering some of the amazing moments. Our ten year anniversary was one of those moments. One For All descended on Vancouver like and left a path of musical destruction (in a good way). Those cats have so much swagger and it was on display for four wonderful nights in 2010. The resulting album Invades Vancouver is a gem and what’s even better is we video taped the last night. Bossa For All, a David Hazeltine original for no other reason than we had so much material to choose from. He never forgave me but I’m recording it with him in New York in a few months so all is now forgiven.

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/bossa-for-all-2/feed/0MY YEAR IN REVIEWhttps://coryweeds.com/news/general/my-year-in-review/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/my-year-in-review/#respondSun, 27 Dec 2015 00:51:24 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8490MUSICAL YEAR IN REVIEW Another wonderful year of music in my life and I feel so blessed to have the many opportunities to play and present this music. It always has the potential to be a long blog post when I look back over the year (I’m a busy guy) so I have done my […]

Another wonderful year of music in my life and I feel so blessed to have the many opportunities to play and present this music. It always has the potential to be a long blog post when I look back over the year (I’m a busy guy) so I have done my best to whittle it down as much as I can however it doesn’t mean that these are the only significant things that happened. These are the ones that popped out however.

This was a Celebration Of Life for my dear friend Barb Fudge who passed in December of 2014. It was an amazing event and it went exactly how Barb would’ve wanted. It was a bit nerve racking because in Barb’s last moments she trusted me with the music for her service and told me not to screw it up!

Always a huge thrill having Seamus in town and this was a fun gig with Seamus playing the music of Eddie Harris. It was also my first presentation under Coastal Jazz and my first presentation at the wonderful P.A.L. Theatre.

Was my first gig as a leader at Blue Frog Studios and we were playing the music of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers for the Lee Morgan / Hank Mobley era. It was an amazing gig.

February 14 to 22 – multiple venues in New York

The 5th Annual New York With Weeds as the best yet and I got to share it with one of my closest friends. John Oulton. Too many stories and good times to write here but it was most definitely a highlight of 2015.

March 1 – private residence

Russell Malone – guitar, Russ Botten – bass, Joe Poole – drums

I have worked at getting Russell at this house party for the better part of 5 years and it finally happened. It was an amazing experience and Russell was as gracious as can be. He has been a wonderful cat to get to know.

The thrill of a lifetime! A five-hour, intense rehearsal followed by 2 long days of recording resulted in my 10th record as a leader, which was released in November. Without question the record that I’m most proud of. The guys were so wonderful to work with.

My first presentation at Shadbolt and a gathering of 4 of my favorite musicians and people from New York City. Spike Wilner is the owner of Smalls and Berns, Mags and GStew make regular appearances at the NY hotspot

A release celebration for Condition Blue, The Music Of Jackie McLean my most successful album to date and one of Cellar Live’s most successful. It appeared on many Top 10 and appeared in Jazz Week’s Top 100 albums of 2015. Having LeDonne in town is always a lot of fun and this gig at Federico’s was fantastic.

An amazing 3 days hanging out with a true legend of jazz in Mr. Heath. So many great stories. His wife Mona was also wonderful. The jam at the private house concert was a lot of fun as well with Jimmy soaking up every minute of it. I was told that Jimmy had been having some health issues and was feeling quite down and this little trip helped him a lot.

July 1 – Pyatt Hall

The Jill Townsend Big Band CD Release

The end of a what was long, arduous and emotional project. The concert could not have gone any better. The 12-minute documentary off the top was a huge success and the band played wonderfully despite the heavy hearts of all of us.

In the middle of a wonderful holiday with the family I got to do a gig at the famous North Coast Brewing. Doug and Deborah Moody are two of my favorite people in the world and are HUGE friends of jazz were amazing. It was a great experience

August 4 – Coastal Jazz

My first official day as Programming Manager, Clubs & Special Projects at Coastal Jazz & Blues

August 10 to 13

Had the extreme honour of being on a Peer Assessment Committee for The Canada Council for the Arts Touring program. I got to work with 3 incredible people and it was a wonderful experience.

September 18 to 28

I had the great fortune to manage a tour by the great Louis Hayes & The Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band that included a huge educational initiative that has led to many more great educational initiatives. It was so much fun hanging out with this band, all guys that I love dearly. It was especially rewarding hanging with my man Vincent Herring!

The opening of Vancouver’s newest home of jazz and blues. My employment at Coastal has been basically been based around the opening of this club and it was a pretty exciting weekend and its continued to be an amazing experience. I didn’t think I’d be back in this business but here I am and I love every minute of it. I also got to fulfill the dream of collaborating with David Hazeltine. We will record an album in New York City later this year.

From the second I had a rehearsal with Leora and Luigi I knew this was going to be a great project. It was so much fun getting to know Leora, Luigi and their music and this record is going to do very well!

The last night of a 4 night run with one of the hardest swinging trio in jazz. It was a huge thrill to not only record this cd but to actually have the opportunity to play the material live was an even bigger thrill.

December 4 & 5 – The Annex

Featuring Dr. Lonnie Smith and The Jill Townsend Big Band.

This was a project of epic proportions and it was such a great experience to get the opportunity to work with the good Dr. again. The band sounded great and everyone had a really good time.

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/my-year-in-review/feed/0MY CHAT WITH LOUIS HAYES!!!https://coryweeds.com/news/general/my-chat-with-louis-hayes/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/my-chat-with-louis-hayes/#respondTue, 08 Sep 2015 21:03:32 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8412Had a wonderful chat with Louis Hayes today. Here he is talking about growing up and and getting turned on to jazz! The interview was a long one so over the next few days I’ll be posting clips from all the wonderful things that we talked about! Check it out!

Had a wonderful chat with Louis Hayes today. Here he is talking about growing up and and getting turned on to jazz! The interview was a long one so over the next few days I’ll be posting clips from all the wonderful things that we talked about! Check it out!

]]>https://coryweeds.com/news/general/my-chat-with-louis-hayes/feed/0A GREAT APRIL and MAY IS LOOKING GOOD!https://coryweeds.com/news/general/a-great-april-and-may-is-looking-good/
https://coryweeds.com/news/general/a-great-april-and-may-is-looking-good/#respondSun, 26 Apr 2015 22:15:19 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8356I was perusing Facebook this afternoon and I saw someone post something about how great their April was and so I took a look back on my April and realized how incredible mine was! Had a nice beginning spending time with family over Easter weekend then the music kicked into high gear! 3 wonderful gigs […]

I was perusing Facebook this afternoon and I saw someone post something about how great their April was and so I took a look back on my April and realized how incredible mine was! Had a nice beginning spending time with family over Easter weekend then the music kicked into high gear! 3 wonderful gigs with Champian Fulton, Jodi Proznick and Julian MacDonough followed by a duo house concert with Champian, all of which were extremely rewarding! Gigs in Bellingham and Francesco’s here in Vancouver leading up to flying to Los Angeles to record with the great Jeff Hamilton Trio. I came home to play a great gig with a very unique saxophonist Ned Goold at the Italian Cultural Center that was extremely fun. Then it was back in the studio to produce and record with Tim Tamashiro. Was fantastic to hear the arrangements of Tilden Webb, Dave Pearce and Liala Biali played by some of my favorite musicians: Tilden Webb – piano, Jodi Proznick – bass, Jesse Cahill – drums, Tim Tamashiro – vocals, Vince Mail – trumpet, Rod Murray – trombone. Gonna be a really fun record. Sandwiched in the middle of that was an exciting performance by David Braid and The Borealis String Quartet at Pyatt Hall as part of The Cellar Jazz Series.

Wow, all of this and month isn’t even over yet!! On Thursday I play a great show in Washington to celebrate International Jazz Day then quickly drive back up to play with Joe Poole – drums, Paul Rushka – bass, Miles Black – fender rhodes, Chris Davis – trumpet and Bill Coon guitar at Frankie’s Italian Kitchen and Bar on Beatty Street and then the month is over!

May is cookin’ as well! Smalls Jazz Club comes to Vancouver on May 1/2, Seamus Blake on May 8 at The Emerald, a gig with Harry Allen on May 10 and then a mini tour with the legend that is Harold Mabern followed by my CD release for CONDITION BLUE – The Music Of Jackie McLean at Federico’s and Blue Frog Studios with the great MIKE LEDONNE!!

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https://coryweeds.com/news/general/sunday-morning-musings/#respondSun, 22 Mar 2015 17:33:06 +0000http://coryweeds.com/?p=8336Long time no post. I have to admit that convenience of Facebook and the ability to quickly post thoughts, gig notices, opinions etc. make blogging a bit more difficult. Having said that I know that not all people that are online are on Facebook so I thought I’d compose a rare blog post. As always […]

Long time no post. I have to admit that convenience of Facebook and the ability to quickly post thoughts, gig notices, opinions etc. make blogging a bit more difficult. Having said that I know that not all people that are online are on Facebook so I thought I’d compose a rare blog post. As always there is no shortage of things to be excited about. My life certainly is NOT boring that’s for sure. Let’s start with all the goings on at CELLAR LIVE. I keep intimating that I’m going to get out of this crazy business. Everytime I feel super confident that Im going to let Cellar Live slip away into the night I get a statement from a distributor for example telling me that we’ve had our best month ever (December), then I get an email from a musician wanting to buy 200 units followed by a massive order from Japan and I think to myself ‘damn, I can’t get out, things are just starting to rock.’ So in a nutshell here is what’s happening with the label: